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"[M]arkedly different characteristics from a product of nature"
So I've finally had the time to read through last week's 156-page ruling in "Association for Molecular Pathology v. US PTO", the case which challenged the patents held my Myriad Genetics on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes. It's a delight to read, in that Judge Sweet clearly took great pains to understand the molecular biology involved ( Read more... ) -
Whose DNA anyway?
Yesterday, a US District Court judge issued a ruling which invalidated the patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The patent-holder, Myriad Genetics, sells genetic testing services that predict likelihoods of getting breast cancer: women with certain mutations in these genes have an 85% lifetime chance of getting breast cancer, unless they get ( Read more... ) -
Hue Knew?
A (age 3½): Daddy, do you know that chameleons can change their color?
me: You're right, they can!
A: Is that because they have rainbows inside them? -
Overachiever
Surely a new entry in the annals of bedtime procrastination should be made for "Daddy, I can't go to sleep, there's dirt behind my ears!" -
Oops Tenenbaum?
So Joel Tenenbaum admitted he'd done all the file sharing the RIAA accused him of, and all the judge asked the jury to decide was the size of the monetary damage. They found him liable for a total of $675,000 for the 30 songs - kind of an arbitrary number, don't you think? Check out this observation passed on by David Post at the Volohk ( Read more... ) -
Fortune Favors the... Huh?
We had a pleasant dim sum lunch at Green Tea today - ordering off a menu, not hunter-gatherer style, but tasty nonetheless. And then came the fortune cookies for dessert, in which, I kid you not, A. received:
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The Naming of Things
I love watching language acquisition in kids. A, now two and a half, still provides occasional gems.
So he's been reading D's old copy of A Pocket for Corduroy, with D's name (written in 4-year-old block caps) inside the front cover. We read the name to him the first time, and now that he knows what it says, every time he opens the book he ( Read more... ) -
Sixth Sheik's Sixth Sheep's Sick
"List ten things you like beginning with a letter" meme, caught from ruthling. She gave me S.- Sour pie cherries - this year, all of a sudden, available fresh in stores near you! Yum!
- Socializing. Thursday night dinner is a high point of my week.
- Shakespeare. I'm sad that we missed "As You Like It" on the commons this year.
- 1729
- Storms, with thunder and ( Read more... )
- Sour pie cherries - this year, all of a sudden, available fresh in stores near you! Yum!
